The papers in this volume go some way to correct some of the misinterpretations presently found in archaeological reports. Contributions cover many aspects of research into the evidence from prehistoric, Roman, medieval and early modern periods as well as descriptions of traditional techniques still used in different parts of the world today. Whilst the emphasis is on the interpretation of the evidence for leather tanning surviving in the archaeological record, other aspects such as standing tannery buildings are also considered.
A range of information given in this volume summarises our current understanding of the evidence for the processing of hides and skins in the past, and also serves to challenge received views by considering some of the traditional methods still being practised. These papers show it is important to consider the evidence of each potential tanning site on its merits and not to dismiss the possibility of a tannery occurring in what, at first, might appear to be a less than favourable location. It is hoped that a better informed appreciation of the technologies involved in processing hides and skins will go some way to prevent some of the over-imaginative interpretations that still appear in the literature.
Have we got a tannery? The archaeology of the skin-processing industries
Quita Mould and Roy Thomson
An introduction from the perspective of a field archaeologist
Roy and Diana Friendship-Taylor
Skin, leather and tanning - some definitions
Roy Thomson
Plant and invertebrate indicators of leather production - from fresh skin to leather offcuts
Allan Hall and Harry Kenward
Have we got leather waste from a tannery?
Quita Mould
Tanning with traditional tools and techniques - Inuit, American Indian and Sami people
Lotta Rahme
Traditional leather tanning in central Sudan
Lucy Skinner
Preparing skins in prehistory - a review of evidence and approaches
Susanna Harris
Are we missing something? The elusive tanneries of the Roman period
Carol van Driel-Murray
A question of tannage - leather from Anglo-Saxon contexts
Esther Cameron
Have we got a parchmenerie? Identifying parchment making at a dry-preserved site: the evidence from Portmahomack, Tarbatness, Ross-shire
Cecily A. Spall
Everything but the leather - the search for tanneries in Flemish archaeology
Anton Ervynck
Late medieval to early post-medieval tanning - the evidence from Northampton and its wider implications
Michael Shaw
Tanning and related industries in Birmingham, 1200-1800
Stephanie Rátkai
Was there a leather tanyard at Rye?
Lawrence Stevens, with a contribution from Quita Mould
The leather-production industry in Bermondsey - the archaeological evidence
Kevin Rielly
Can we identify a tannery from waste products? Evidence from Sussex
Patricia Stevens
Hide and seek - some thoughts on identifying tannery structures
Helen Gomersall
Contributors
Reviews
...the book is recommended to any leather chemist who knows, or wishes to know, something of early processing linked to an interest in local history...[It] has been well presented and is very readable.
Journal of the Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists 95(3) (2011) 132
...the range of information presented [in this book] is extensive, and not only summarises our current understanding of the evidence for the processing of hides and skins in the past, but also serves to challenge some of the received views and over-imaginative interpretations that still appear in the literature. The book will be of interest and value to any conservator working with skins and leathers, however produced and however used, and especially archaeological conservators dealing with waterlogged leather and other organic remains from possible industrial sites.
ICON News 36 (September 2011) 28
I strongly encourage anyone involved in archaeology or interested in leather and related crafts to buy this volume, which will become a standard reference work on the subject. It is readable, and makes the processes tangible [and] comprehensible.
Antiquity 85(330) (December 2011) 1503-1504
